


Gold Star Kisses

by SkyFireForever



Category: The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Affection, Fluff, Love, Love Languages, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:13:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26796415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyFireForever/pseuds/SkyFireForever
Summary: Written for the mechtober prompt: “Stars”The Toy Soldier didn’t like kisses. Not usually. But the rest of the crew liked them. It just wanted to feel included.
Relationships: The Mechanisms Ensemble/The Mechanisms Ensemble, The Toy Soldier/The Mechanisms Ensemble
Comments: 13
Kudos: 95





	Gold Star Kisses

The Toy Soldier didn’t usually like kisses. At least not kisses on the lips. Kisses on the lips were too familiar in an entirely negative way. 

But kisses were how many members of the crew showed their affection to one another. They kissed in greeting and in farewell and whenever they wanted to show their love. 

This caused the Toy Soldier much distress, as while the crew had assured it that they understood its objections to kisses and didn’t hold it against it, it still had no  _ substitution  _ for kisses. It had no way to show its affection. 

It walked about in the common area of the Aurora, pacing to and fro. It had no reason to pace. It could think just as well standing still, but the other crew members paced when they were thinking and the Soldier wanted to behave more like a person, so it paced. 

Part of it told itself to just kiss them, even if it made it uncomfortable. But another part remembered the long talk it had had with the rest of the crew about consent and about not putting aside its own comfort for others’ pleasure. It had made a promise to always be honest about things that it didn’t want and it always kept its promises.

It continued its pacing, trying to think of some way to show its love and affection to the other crew members. It thought of how Ashes left behind a lipstick stain with their kisses, a visual reminder of their affection. 

That was it! 

A visual reminder. That was exactly what the Toy Soldier needed. It needed to leave behind something like a lipstick stain, something that could be seen by others so they knew that it loved them. 

But what could possibly work? It didn’t have anything to show its affection with. 

It peered out of the window, lost in thought. It looked at all the stars out in space, the little bits of light that made their way through the vast emptiness. It wished that it could give its partners a star. A big ball of hot gasses that would keep them warm and comfortable. Stars were brilliant and shiny too. Many members of the crew enjoyed shiny things. 

The Toy Soldier suddenly had an idea. Perhaps it  _ could  _ give the crew stars instead of kisses! 

The next morning, Jonny came into the common area, still dressed in his pajamas. He rarely got dressed unless he had to. 

“Morning, TS.” He greeted, raising a hand in greeting. 

“Good Morning, Jonny!” It spoke, altogether too chipped considering the early hour. 

It walked over and raised its hand so fast that Jonny thought it was going to hit him. Instead, he felt something sticky attach to his lips. 

He quickly removed it so he could see what it was, only to discover that the Toy Soldier had attached a golden star sticker to his lips. 

“What is this?” He raised an eyebrow. 

“It Is A Kiss!” The Soldier exclaimed, practically vibrating where it stood. 

“This is a sticker.” Jonny had been under the impression that the Toy Soldier had understood what a kiss was, as it had told him and the rest of the crew that it wasn’t fond of them. Evidently, he was wrong. “A kiss is when you press your lips to-”

“I Am Aware Of That, Mister D’Ville!” It interrupted. “This Is A Toy Soldier Kiss!” It explained. “I Do Not Enjoy Lip Kisses, So I Will Give Star Kisses Instead!” 

Jonny stared. “But that isn’t what a kiss is.” He insisted. “This is just a star sticker. It’s not a kiss.” 

The Soldier stepped back. Its smile didn’t fade, but Jonny reckoned that that was only because it was unable to. 

“You Do Not Like It?” 

“Now, I never said that.” Jonny quickly backpedaled. “It’s nice. It’s sweet. It’s just not a kiss.” 

“I think it’s a wonderful kiss.” A voice came from behind them and Jonny looked up to see Ashes standing in the doorway. They walked over and wrapped two arms around the Soldier from behind. “I’m proud of you for coming up with a way to show your affection that doesn’t make you uncomfortable.” 

The Toy Soldier positively lit up at the praise. It stood up straighter and if it were able to, its smile would have widened. “Would You Like A Kiss?” 

“I would love a kiss, TS. Thank you.” They smiled. 

The Soldier turned around and pressed one of its star stickers to their mouth. They smiled, speaking around the sticker to the best of their ability. 

“Thank you, TS.” 

“You Are Quite Welcome!” It said. “I Must Now Go And Kiss Everyone Else!” It exclaimed, hurrying down a corridor. 

After that, the Toy Soldier’s kisses appeared everywhere. 

Raphaella had several on her wings and one on her cheek. Ivy had one over her eyebrow. Tim had a few over his knuckles. Brian had them all over his face and even a few on his arms. Marius had them covering every inch of his body. Even Nastya had one over her temple. There were several scattered about on the Aurora’s walls because the Toy Soldier didn’t want the Aurora to feel left out.

And of, course, there were the kisses placed upon everyone’s lips. 

Jonny wore the kisses on his lips for the longest, parading about the ship with a golden star against his face at almost all times. He’d even be quiet for longer if it meant that the kiss wouldn’t lose its stickiness. 

Brian also would wear his for quite awhile, though that might have had something to do with the fact that his mouth didn’t produce as much moisture, so the sticker didn’t come off quite so easily. 

Everyone wore their Toy Soldier kisses with pride, though. Only ever reluctantly taking them off when it was time for a shower or other situations where they would come off anyway. 

They even wore them in battle or when exploring a new planet. Some people questioned them, but they didn’t care. They had no reason to be ashamed of kisses from their partner. 

The Toy Soldier was with Marius, pressing gold star kisses all over his face, when it suddenly stopped. 

“TS? You alright?” Marius asked, looking at his lover with concern.

The Soldier was looking down. “I Am Out Of Kisses.” It said, its voice small and almost scared. It held up its sticker book, which was completely devoid of gold star stickers. “I Have No More Kisses To Give.”

“Oh.” Marius frowned. “Hey. There’s no need to worry about that. We can always get you more.” He assured. “There’s no need to worry about it.” 

“But I Wish To Give You More Kisses Now!” It exclaimed. “No One Else Has To Worry About Running Out Of Kisses.” 

That made Marius’ heart sink. “Oh, TS.” He wrapped his arms around it. “You don’t have to worry about running out of kisses either.” He insisted. “You’re wonderful. We know that you love us even without the kisses.” 

“But-”

“We know, Toy Soldier.” He looked at it. “We know.” 

The next few days were spent with the Toy Soldier moping about the Aurora, its usual chipperness gone. It couldn’t give out its special gold star kisses, so it didn’t show any affection at all. 

It worried the rest of the crew. 

Marius tried to cheer it up, asking it for hugs and lip kisses on the cheek, but it didn’t seem as eager anymore. It still gave everything Marius asked for, but with such a lack of its usual enthusiasm, that Marius felt bad for asking and eventually stopped. 

They had to do something to help the Soldier. 

Ivy tried to help next, sitting next to the Toy Soldier with a smile. “Did you know that there are many ways to show affection that are not physical?” She asked. “There are words, gifts, acts of service, and quality time.” She explained. “You can show us affection in other ways than kisses.” 

“But I Enjoy Giving You Kisses.” It said. “I Enjoy How You Smile When I Give You One. How Everyone Smiles.” 

“We’d smile if you did other things for us too.” 

“You Would?” 

“Oh, of course!” She smiled. “We’d smile if you held our hands, if you hugged us, if you did things for us without us asking, if you spent time with us, if you got us gifts, if you told us that you loved us.” 

“I Do Love You!” It said quickly. “Very Much!” 

A smile spread across her face. “And I love you too.” 

It seemed to cheer up after that. It started performing tasks for everyone, such as cleaning Raphaella’s wings where she couldn’t reach or making everyone’s beds for them. It told everyone that it loved them much more often and spent more time with everyone. 

One day, Jonny called the Toy Soldier into the common area. “I, uh, got you something.” He mumbled. He shoved a new sticker book into its hands, one filled with stars of every color of the rainbow and then some. “Here. Don’t make a big deal out of it.” 

The Soldier flipped through the book, staring at all the beautiful colors. 

“I know it isn’t much, but you were so attached to the other book of stickers, so I thought you might want-”

He was cut off by a gold star kiss right against his lips. 


End file.
